Asking price: $825,000
Sold for: $890,000
Result: $65,000 above asking · 9 competing offers

Quick stats:
2 bed · 2 bath · 1,020 sq ft · Leasehold (189 years remaining) · Converted warehouse.

The seller, Jamie, came to me with a number in his head: $750,000.

Two friends had told him that was realistic. One of them was a property investor. The other had sold a flat in the same building four years ago.

I told him I thought we could do better. Not because I wanted to win the instruction — I already had it — but because the market had moved significantly since his friend's sale, and because Apt 4F had two things that the comparable flats in the building didn't: a corner position with dual-aspect windows, and a private terrace that most buyers don't know exists until they see it in person.

We listed at $825,000. Jamie was nervous. That's understandable. The gap between what you hope and what you commit to on paper is where most vendors feel exposed.

The first weekend generated 14 viewing requests. We conducted 11. By Sunday evening, three written offers had arrived. By Tuesday, we had nine.

We ran a best and final offers process. The winning bid was $890,000 — $140,000 above what Jamie had walked in expecting to achieve. The buyer was a tech executive relocating from Singapore who had a two-week window to complete. We exchanged in 19 days.

Jamie's message after completion: "I almost talked myself out of $140,000."